Eight Tips For Creating A Non-Promotional Branded Podcast

Numerous professionals spend their daily commutes and downtime listening to podcasts of their interests – from diversion to industry-explicit shows.

Capitalizing on this growing trend can be an extraordinary method to advertise your business. In any case, you don’t need your show to appear to be excessively special. Underneath, eight Forbes Agency Council members disclose how to remain on-brand while offering significant substance that keeps your audience craving more.

1. Make It Advice And Knowledge-Driven

The goal is not to say what you do. Just talk about what you know. The more you share your knowledge, the more you’ll get out of it. If you are simply talking about your services and how awesome you are, it will be seen as promotional instead of advice-driven. If you show that you know what you are talking about, it is worth so much more than self-promotion. – Jonathan Laberge, Reptile

2. Put Your Audience’s Interests First

Consider your target audience and deliver useful information. Make sure topics are relevant and timely. Be willing to give away some of your “secret sauce” in your podcast. Pushing your brand agenda should be a secondary goal. – Suzanne Rosnowski, Relevance International

3. Treat It As A Thought Leadership Activity

The purpose of your podcast should be to educate your audience — and that is it. Think of it as a thought leadership activity such as a panel discussion at an industry event, keynote or TED Talk. If youraudience is interested in what you have to say, they will begin following you. – Lisa Allocca, Red Javelin Communications

4. Tell Other People’s Stories

Our agency just launched a podcast dedicated to uncovering the ins and outs of the client and agency relationship dynamic. The key is to home in on the interesting stories of your guests. That’s why people listen. They don’t want to hear about the host, they want to learn more about the person on the other side of the mic. Uncover the gems that haven’t already been reported on. – Ashley Walters, Empower

5. Use The 80/20 Rule

Never forget your audience. Step back and think about what they want to hear, not what you want to tell them. You can even compare this to social media marketing. If you want to keep your consumers engaged, only 20% of your content should be directly promoting your company, while the other 80% should inform and entertain your audience. – Lisa Arledge Powell, MediaSource

6. Tell Parallel Stories That Tie Into Your Brand’s Mission

Build your brand promises into the podcast content. For instance, if your company’s primary cause — outside of selling what you sell — is the environment, tell stories related to conservation, energy efficiency, preserving wild areas, etc. You can reinforce what you’re about and what may make you more appealing to a large part of the audience without promoting your products. – Scott Greggory, MadAveGroup

7. Focus On The Problem You Solve

When targeting professionals, you need to learn how to sell without selling. You need to respect their level of intelligence and understand that they can quickly spot someone selling to them and will immediately tune out. Podcast about what problem you can solve or tell a story about how your product or service helped a customer. Make it relational and the good story will lead them to find you. – Amy Juers, Edge Legal Marketing

8. Fulfill A Universal Desire

Humans are motivated by four core desires: First, connect with each other. Second, provide structure. Third, leave a mark. Fourth, a yearn for paradise. Identify the desire your podcast can fulfill for listeners and build a persona that humanizes it for them. Show up consistently and feed your audience with content that offers insight and inspiration. – Katie Schibler Conn, KSA Marketing + Partnerships